haasz



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

I). F. HAASZ, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND THOS.

NASH, OF SAME PLACE.

APPARATUS FOR ASCERTAINING THE FARES TAKEN ON PUBLIC CONVEYANCES.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 31,513, dated February 19, 1861.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, D. F. HAASZ, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved Apparatus for Ascertaining the Fares Taken on conveyances; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

My invention consists of a box having two compartments communicating with each other through a zig-zag passage the lower end of which is furnished with a valve and a shield, the box having a sliding door and the whole being arranged as set forth hereafter, for the purpose of affording a safe receptacle for the reception of a number of balls, one of which is dropped into the box on the payment of a fare by a passenger, thereby enabling the cashier or other officer who is stationed at the end of the route, and who alone has the means of opening the box, to count the number of balls and thereby ascertain the exact amount of the fares collected on the conveyance.

In order to enable others to make and use my invention I will now proceed to describe its construction and operation.

On reference to the accompanying drawing which forms a part of this specification Figure 1 is a vertical section of my apparatus for ascertaining the rates collected in conveyancesand Fig. 2 is a sectional plan of Fig. 1 on the line 1. 2.

A is a box (of wood or other suitable material) open at the top and provided at the bottom with a sliding door B. The interior of the box is divided into two compartments C and D by the two blocks E and E which are of such a shape as to form the zig-zag communication a, between the upper and lower compartments. At the lower termination of this passage and to the block E a' valve 6 is hung in such a manner that it cannot fall beyond the position shown, but can be easily raised so as to close the communication between the two compartments. To thelower end of the block E is secured a curved shield f the object of which will be rendered apparent, hereafter.

The sliding door B is provided, in front,

with a staple coinciding with a similar staple on the box so as to afford the means of securing the door by an ordinary pad-lock. In place of the sliding door B an ordinary hinged door furnished with a lock may be applied to the lower end. of the box.

The conductor of a passenger car, or the collector of fares on any conveyance, is furnished with one of the above described boxes and also with a number of small balls the box being strapped to his person or carried in any other convenient manner. It is the duty of the conductor when he receives the fare of the passenger to give to the latter one of the balls which the passenger drops into the upper compartment C of the box, when the ball will roll down the zig-zag passage a and into the lower compartment D. The key of the door B is in the possession of the cashier or other oflicer stationed at the termination of the route traversed by the conveyance, and the box is handed to this officer who unlocks the door and removes the balls which he counts and thereby ascertains the number of fares received by the conductor who must pay to the cashier the sum represented by the number of balls.

It will be observed that the abstraction of the balls by any other means than the opening of the door is rendered impossible partly by the form of the passage a partly by the valve 6 and partly by the shield f. If the box be turned upside down, for instance, the shield will prevent the balls from approaching the passage without first coming in contact with the back of the valve and causing the latter to close the passage, whicli is of such a form as to prevent the introduction into the lower compartment of any effective instrument for seizing the balls; even could such an instrument be devised, the withdrawal of a ball seized by or adhering to it would be rendered impossible by the valve and the shield.

Balls of diflerent sizes may be used to designate fares of different amounts.

I do not desire to claim broadly the employment of the within described zig zag passage as a similar passage has been used in connection with letter boxes for the purpose of preventing the extraction of the letters, but

I claim as my invention and desire to se- In testimony whereof, I have signed my cure by Letters Patent name to this specification, in the presence of A box A its tWo compartments C and D two subscribing Witnesses. the zig-zag passage a, valve 6, shield f, and D. F. HAASZ. 5 the sliding door B or its equivalent, the Witnesses:

Whole being arranged as and for the purpose HENRY HowsoN,

herein set forth. CHARLES E. FOSTER. 

